18 December, 2018

My painting output has dropped a bit in the last month, inasmuch as I’ve not got a lot of finished work to show. However, I have been busy organising my paint. It is now all in dropper bottles. This was a slow and messy job, but a good chance to assess the quality of a some of my paints. They are a lot easier to use now, so I think it was worth the effort.

Paints all in dropper bottles.

Otherwise, I have started painting the carroccio and the foot to morph my Normans into Communal Italians. I’ve done the shields, using mostly VVV decals, but also a few of my own that I made (I needed some decals for the carroccio, and added a few for the guards).

I have also spent time buying boxes to store my figures in. This occasioned my discovering some partly painted warbands for Song of Blades and Heroes. It didn’t take long to get them finished, which is quite satisfying. The figures are all Splintered Light, which come in irresistible warband packs (I have a lot more I could get done).

The first warband is a group of Troglodytes; I painted a test figure of them two years ago, and I got the base colour done of the rest: link. They languished after that. I was not entirely happy with the colour, which was too similar to the lizardmen, despite using different colours for the base and drybrushing. I didn’t let that trouble me this time, and just got the detail done, which is not too much work.

Troglodytes!

The warband has a commander and a shaman, and large chap and a pet lizard of some sort.

About face!

And turn again!

The other warband was some lizardmen. They were at the same stage as the Trolodytes, and didn’t take a lot of work to finish. They also have a commander and a shaman; they also have a larger chap with a trident.

Lizardmen…

About face!

And turn again!

I hope to use these figures at some stage; I also would like to get the warband of ratmen painted. The base colour for them is done, and they should look great when finished. They would join quite an array of SoBH figures now.

That’s two groups of figures that I’ve taken out of half-painted limbo. My Veteran Carthaginians remain in this place, but I’ve hit on a plan to get some of them done. I’m going to finish four elements of them to use as imitation legionaries for my Mithridatic army. Getting them done is likely to push the Communal Italians back down the queue!

20 September, 2016

As I checked over the paints that I’d not used in over a year, I came across some colours that reminded me that I had a few figures I’d meant to paint. The next thing you know I’m painting a warband of Zombies that I’d based over a year ago. Not content with that I also did some test figures of Troglodytes and Lizardmen that I’d wanted to do. Then I bought some more figures from Splintered Light because they had a sale … Oops!

The Zombies were pretty straightforward. I used drybrushing after I had applied the wash, as I had gone for a pretty drab palate and wanted a bit more contrast than the wash gave.

The Zombies (can you spot the rogue skeleton painted as a zombie in error!).

Those with the most open wounds.

Those with dresses, the one in the middle is armed with an arm!.

The arm!

Short and tall.

Tunics and a skeleton.

Spears.

Gesturing, and almost the Karate Kid.

I’m hoping to start using these warbands for SoBH in something closer to a RPG campaign inasmuch as I envisage that a warband would encounter zombies and other monsters in the course of a campaign. It gives me an excuse to paint quite a number of these warbands. To date I’ve got my Undead largely done (just some ghouls to do) — evil wizards, a vampire, wraiths, ghosts, skeletons and zombies is a bit to get going with. I’ve also got Gnolls and Goblins, along with a few larger humanoids.

The two test figures, the Troglodyte and Lizardman, were straightforward to paint. However, I’m not happy with the colour of their skin. I was hoping a drybrush would work, but I may have to start again. I want something lighter with more variation. I’ll try a heavier drybrush. If it still doesn’t work, I’ll have to redo the base coat. Otherwise, they’ll be a cinch to paint; not too many colours and clear lines for the detail.

Test colours for a Troglodyte (left) and a Lizardman (right).

The other side.

The warbands may not get much attention, however, until more urgent DBA projects are finished (or that’s the theory).